Madison turned to look at him. "I'm an art major. Third year. I have a place over off of JPA. Do you go here?"
Cory suddenly felt out of his element. JPA? What the hell is that? A bar, a frat house, a sorority? He knew he had to respond, and he tried to keep the panicked look off his face. She’d think he was some moron.
"Don’t judge, but what’s JPA?" He laughed, trying to lighten the mood and how uncomfortable he felt around her.
Madison laughed, "Well, you just answered one question. You're not a student here. JPA. It's short for Jefferson Park Avenue. There are a lot of apartment buildings there, but I have a small apartment inside a house. I prefer the privacy. So, White Hall. I've seen signs. Out in the county? Where all those vineyards are, right?"
Cory began to breathe again. "That’s right. Horse country and all the vineyards. I’m not a student. But I love art, fashion, leather mostly. It must be nice to have your own place. I noticed your rings before, they’re very unique. I like them. You own that style." Casually grabbing her hand, he looked down at her rings.
Madison hadn't spent any time visiting the vineyards, but she knew they were a big tourist attraction in the area, and the estates were quite large. She led them down Main Street in the direction of the mall. This boy didn’t look like he came from money. Maybe he worked on one of the estates.
"Thanks. I'm afraid I don't fit in with the preppy culture of this campus, but they have a great art school. So, what is it you do?"
Cory wasn’t sure how the hell to answer this. He couldn’t just say, oh yeah well, my father is a vampire, so is my stepmom. I make leather outfits for a bunch of vampire warriors. We live in this huge house, we have more money than God and yeah, I can bite you if you like. "Just a leather artisan. I make custom leather goods. I’m originally from California but came here to live with my father and stepmother." He kept up with her, enjoying the conversation, but hoped she didn’t probe for too much detail.
Cory had kept her hand in his after examining her rings, and they walked together toward the coffee shop. Madison led him inside and they both walked toward the back of the coffee house, past the private alcoves that held other couples. They found a quiet place in the back on a sofa, and Madison dropped down, tossing her bag to the side.
"You make stuff from leather? That's cool. Like, belts and stuff?"
Cory was intrigued by this Madison Barnes. She was nice, pretty, and different from the other girls he’d seen on campus. He tried to answer her questions truthfully, but not in much detail.
"Leather is my thing. My birth mother wasn’t a rich person, so I had to learn how to make my own money. I bought a lot of leather clothes in second hand shops, and then I’d take them apart and make my own stuff. I do mostly custom work for people, like pants and jackets, but I can do anything with leather."
Cory loved looking into her eyes. She seemed totally interested in everything he said. He wasn’t used to talking about himself, and he knew he’d need to be careful, but he felt so comfortable with her. "What can I get you? My treat, so here’s your chance!"
The waitress approached and Madison ordered a green tea and asked for the humus plate before turning to Cory. "You can share the humus plate with me. It has cucumbers, carrots, peppers, pita chips. All organic. What do you want to drink?"
He chuckled. “I think you were born in the wrong place. You sound like the girls from California." Grinning at her, he turned to the waitress, "I’ll have a cafe latte." Turning back to Madison, he decided it was time to fire out his own questions. "So, you’re an art student. Do you have an artist or period of art you like the most?"
Madison shook her head. "I don't really paint much. I’m more interested in pottery. I have my own potter's wheel. That's one of the reason's I got my own place. I can work when the mood strikes me, and I don't have to worry about roommates. But I like a lot of art. I love the Impressionist, but also a lot of the realism from the Renaissance. I sell some of my stuff down here, a few shops down. I don't make a lot of money from it yet, but I'd like to be able to make a living at it someday. How about you? Do you sell your work?"
Cory took a deep breath. There was no way to find out about her without having the conversation turn back to him. Trying to relax, he tried to turn what he actually did into something more on the scale of a little white lie. "Yes, my dad has some contacts in Italy, and I make custom leathers for them. Sort of like sportswear. It’s hard to describe."
He pulled at the leather vest he wore over top of his t-shirt. "I made this. I came up with the design, cut the pattern, and stitched it. But I don’t sell anything in a private store or specialty shop."
Madison ran her hand over the vest. It was finely crafted and felt soft as cloth. "Get out! You made this? You could totally sell these down here! If you need the money, I can introduce you to the shop owners."
The waitress delivered their order, and Madison used a pita chip to scoop up the humus. A large dollop dropped from the chip and she laughed and caught it in her other hand. She held her fingers to his mouth, allowing him to lick the humus from her fingers. He locked eyes with her as he took her fingers in his mouth, and she felt a shiver run through her. Her offer to feed him from her hand was spontaneous, but she didn’t anticipate her own response to the erotic feel of her fingers in his mouth. She smiled back at him, sensing his shyness.
"So, what do you think? You want to meet the store owners?"
Cory couldn’t take his eyes off of her. He loved how she dug right in, not worried about trying to appear dainty in her eating. He was shocked when she lifted her fingers to his lips, but he snaked his tongue around her fingers and sucked softly as his eyes locked with hers. He looked down quickly when she withdrew her fingers. Sipping his latte, he shrugged about her comment.
"Never really thought about selling to the shops, to be honest. I do okay right now. It’s not about the money for me, but more about pride in seeing my creations used. People feel different when they wear different things. But I wouldn’t mind meeting some of the owners. All I have to show of my work is what I’m wearing right now, but I’d like to go and see your work."
Madison shrugged. "Yeah, sure. I'll show you my work. But the shops are all closed now. We'll have to come down in the daytime." She swallowed down the green tea and pondered her next question. She’d only just met him, but she had good instincts about people. "You can come back to my place, if you want. I have a lot of my stuff there. I mean, if you want to."
Cory almost choked on his latte, her place? She seemed sincere in her offer. Why not, he was just going to sit at home and play video games and she was much more interesting and pretty. Popping a few cucumbers in his mouth, he looked over and nodded.
"Not a problem, I don’t think I’ve even seen a potter’s wheel before. And I’d really like to come back down here and go through the shops when they’re open, this is a cool place to hang out, and I have my own personal tour guide."
Nudging her shoulder, his laugh was a bit loud and she giggled as well. They both looked at each other when the couple sitting across from them snuggling and kissing shot them a dirty look and they both really began to laugh.